America stole our language...and changed it!?

amother

Azure

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 8:15 pm

amother OP wrote:

They can take our language, I mean as the saying goes 'if it ain't broke don't fix it', but don't change it!

So you plan to go back to speaking old English then because you're against changing languages? You should read Beowulf just to get more familiar with the language before the British changed it so drastically.

amother

Coral

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 8:16 pm

amother Ballota wrote:

This might be a good time to remember that we are not American or English. We are and will always be Jews first. And that said, our language is Hebrew (or rather Lashon HaKodesh).

Hear hear!!!!

Wolfsbane

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 8:20 pm

amother Azure wrote:

No need to go back that far - we're obviously supposed to freeze the language at 1776.

sushilover

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 8:31 pm

There's a cool YouTube channel called lost in the pond and he discusses why Americans use the "wrong" words and pronounce things differently.
Turns out, more than half of the time, it's the Americans who are being faithful to the original English, and not the British!
For example, all brits used to pronounce the r on word such as water and heart. The British changed their pronunciation in the mid 18 hundreds. So we are the real deal, and you guys changed your language.

Another example, you guys spell it yoghurt and we spell it yogurt. Are we just being lazy? No. Turns out, the original word in Turkish has no silent h. You brits added the h... maybe to feel fancy? Very Happy

You pronounce the h in herbs. We don't. Oh my goodness! Those annoying Americans dropping h's! Destroying the English language. Well actually, herbs come from the French word that didn't even have an h at all. For hundreds of years, the h was silent in England until the mid 18 hundreds when upper class people started to fear that they would be mistaken for the lower class who dropped h'es in other words. So they started pronouncing the h, and promptly started looking down on the Americans who were just keeping the original pronunciation!

We call that green vegetable zucchini and you them courgettes. Neither is wrong. There were no zucchinis around in either country when America was colonized. By the time, the term courgette (a French word) came into use in the uk, America was its own country. We were introduced to zucchinis via our Italian immigrants, so obviously, we use the Italian word.

In fact, most of the examples (buggy, jumper, nappy) are words that were only introduced in your country long after our independence, so it's no shocker that we would have different words.

I don't know why we use the Dutch cookie instead of the British biscuit. Maybe the dutch were better bakers during the colonial time?

Last edited by sushilover on Sun, Oct 29 2023, 8:40 pm; edited 1 time in total

Ihatepotatoes

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 8:33 pm

schoolbus wrote:

I’m American but I can think of these

Lift-elevator
Biscuit-cookie
Jumper-sweater
Chips-French fries

Hey, WE invented the elevator, I think we can can call it whatever WE want!

Ihatepotatoes

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 8:34 pm

Wolfsbane wrote:

No need to go back that far - we're obviously supposed to freeze the language at 1776.

We kicked 'em out, we get to make da decisions.

sushilover

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 8:39 pm

Wolfsbane wrote:

No need to go back that far - we're obviously supposed to freeze the language at 1776.

We kind of did.
Many of the differences are changes the brits made, not us.
For example gasoline vs petrol. At first gasoline was used on both sides of the pond. Then the brits started using petrol, while we stuck faithfully to gasoline (or gazeline, as it was spelled then)

gr82no

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 8:43 pm

Most of the examples did not exist in 1776 so no one stole anything.
Also shakespeare english is different than British English today

amother

Yarrow

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 9:00 pm

Wolfsbane wrote:

No need to go back that far - we're obviously supposed to freeze the language at 1776.

What did the Brits call a car trunk in 1776? A truck? An elevator?

I realize this is supposed to be entertaining, but it's too stupid to be funny.

chanatron1000

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 9:20 pm

You colonize a place and then accuse the people there of stealing your language?

Sunny Days

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 9:25 pm

amother Brass wrote:

How do you propose changing this? Recolonization, perhaps?

Reminds me of the rebirthing concept lol LOL

amother

Antiquewhite

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 9:28 pm

It's normal for different regions even in the same country to have different dialects. So definitely not unusual to have different word usages when you're talking about different countries.

singleagain

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 9:44 pm

amother Brass wrote:

Supposedly there was debate during George Washington's time as to what the official language of the new country would be.

They actually considered Hebrew. Hebrew was spoken at Harvard.

Fast forward 250ish years later, this could have been posted by an Israeli about Yinglish instead of a Yank about the plebe thieving colonists

Fun fact, I'm pretty sure that America doesn't even have an official language.

GLUE

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 9:47 pm

amother Azure wrote:

And America didn't steal a language. That was their native language, and languages adapt over time. Even British English adapted over time. I guarantee someone speaking old English would think you butchered their language.

I read somewhere:

I feel bad for English speakers they are the only ones who don't learn
Shakespeare in their native langue.

yidishmamma

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 9:48 pm

Engaged -busy

my mama

Sun, Oct 29 2023, 9:59 pm

Pants and vest=underpants and undershirt

GLUE

Mon, Oct 30 2023, 12:34 am

singleagain wrote:

Fun fact, I'm pretty sure that America doesn't even have an official language.

I think you are right about that, though the English only people want to change that.

I heard once on the radio, can't say how true it is.
That when NY became a state there was a big fight over what language the official documents would be in. NY at that time had a very large Dutch speaking population, until the 1900's many places in the Huston Valley spoke mostly Dutch. So, many of those people felt that Dutch should be the official language of NY.

amother

Poppy

Mon, Oct 30 2023, 12:35 am

Quote from George Bernard Shaw,
"Two great nations, separated by a common language"

As a British subject living in America, I sometimes think that the only thing we have in common IS the language!

amother

Geranium

Mon, Oct 30 2023, 1:00 am

amother OP wrote:

Sorry America, English was spoken in England before Columbus discovered America!!

Ever tried reading Beowulf? That was English too. There are dialects all over the world ( of English) you would not understand. True story from a Canadian who is somewhere between British and US English.

GLUE

Mon, Oct 30 2023, 1:18 am

I was once reading a book were 1\2 the book took place in Sydney the other 1\2 took place in NY.
The author had wanted that the part of the book that took place in Sydney had Australia spelling. The part of the book that took place in NY had American spelling. Her proof reader went crazy and told her NO WAY.

Why are you not screaming at the Australians, I would not be surprised if there English is also a color different.